Autumn Leaves
by Thunder Of Friendship
Summary: The wind is strong and the autumn leaves dance in the air. The sky is orange as the sun sets, the leaves are orange, the wonderful work of autumn. Hao had died, and Yoh requests a proper funeral for his brother, to say one and final goodbye.


Thunder: Well, this is the fic that I'm entering the contest with, hope you enjoy it. The subject is about **Pre/Post Anime/Manga**

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.

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><p><strong>Summary:<strong> The wind is strong and the autumn leaves dance in the air. The sky is orange as the sun sets, the leaves have turned orange, the wonderful work of autumn. Hao had died, and Yoh requests a proper funeral for his brother, to say one and final goodbye to the brother he never saw.

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><p><strong>Autumn Leaves<strong>

_-Flashback-_

_The giant sword was ready in his hands, held up and about to strike. There was a moment of hesitation; it was evident for both of them, written in their eyes, open and clear hesitation for each other to see. Surprisingly, that hesitation vanished from the younger before the elder could even react._

_Yoh kept his eyes on every move his brother made. First, hesitation turned into shock, then confusion. He could see it as if it was playing in slow-motion, the giant sword slowly slashing the air, Hao's expression turning from hesitant, to shocked then confused. Then there was something else, when the sword was mere inches away from his head, the elder finally let his eyes wander from the sword to his brother, eyes locked at each other, then the unexpected happened, Hao smiled. A smile that was very much like his own, yet different. It wasn't a grin, but it was a genuine soft smile, from brother to brother. Hao's eyes were welcoming and happy, Yoh was confused that there wasn't any hint of sadness in them, or anger for that matter._

_For the first time, no, it wasn't the first time, he had felt this feeling before many times, whenever he glanced at Hao and the other glanced back, there was a silent feeling of understanding, wavering far away in the backgrounds. It never felt real to Yoh, not until now, when the blade touched his brother's skin, tearing it apart and drawing massive amounts of blood. That's when Yoh came back to his senses, all this while, his body moved on its own, or maybe on Amidamaru's will. _

_Sweat was trickling down his forehead as he watched in shock the body of his brother being pushed further away from him and then fall down, the act that he had done with his own hands. The blood that was gashing out of Hao's body was sending chills of fear down his spine, waves of guilt washing over him and he wished he was blind, wished that he hadn't seen what he already saw, wished that he hadn't paid attention to the small details, wished that he'd just forget, wished that it was just a dream, a nightmare, wished that none of this, not even the Shaman Fight, had ever even happened. Then a small voice from very far away in his head continued one last sentence, **wished that he'd been there from the start.** That voice sent a wave of shivers down his body and suddenly it hit Yoh that he should finally breathe._

_With the first loud, sharp gasp, he felt the world around him break like glass, color returning to his surroundings, everything started moving with normal speed. He watched as his brother hit the ground with a loud crash. And he was growing weaker; exhaustion from the earlier fight took over his body, his oversoul slowly disintegrating as he came closer and closer to the ground._

_-End Of Flashback-_

Yoh walked over to his brother's motionless body, stepping into freshly spilt blood. The color blinding his eyes, he never thought red could hurt his eyes so much, so he closed them momentarily as he turned his head to the side, staring at something else as his mind kept repeating the useless and impossible wishes that kept popping up in his mind, but one wish truly confused him, _**wished that he'd been there from the start.**_ What was this about?

Then he stopped; now he was standing right next to his brother, watching in silent grief what his actions had resulted in. The cut was deep, stretching from Hao's forehead till the end of the abdomen. His face was scrunched up in pain as he desperately tried to breathe, blood scattered all over his face and his entire skin.

"Did he do it?" He closed his eyes softly, trying to erase his brother's image as he heard Horo Horo exclaim not too far away from him.

"Shush! Wait." That was Ren's voice. He balled his hands into fists, but not those of anger, no they were fists of determination. Silent murmurs spread in the air behind him but he could clearly make out Anna and Ren's voices. He felt soft footsteps coming closer his way, then a hand gently resting on his shoulder. He opened his eyes slowly and turned to look at Anna. She didn't give any particular expression in her face, but he was very good in reading people's eyes by now. He looked every one of his friends slowly in the eye, they had all gathered around Hao's shivering form; they all seemed both happy and worried.

Yoh took a deep breath and knelt down next to his brother, slowly but hesitantly taking the pale, shivering and bloodstained hand into his. Hao slowly opened his eyes, his breath still heavy as he looked at his brother.

"Hey!" He whispered cheerfully in a husky voice and with a wide grin, just like Yoh's, causing more blood to spill out. Yoh didn't know what to say, his eyebrows were furrowed with worry and now he just felt guilty for all of this.

"I'm sorry." Yoh whispered as he avoided looking Hao in the eyes. He heard Hao chuckle softly, breathlessly.

"What are you…sorry for, huh?" He barely managed to whisper out. "I wanted you…to kill me." That made Yoh look up in shock at his brother, he was smiling.

"You should smile." He whispered as he slowly lifted his other hand to tug at the corner of Yoh's lips, coaxing a smile that just didn't want to come. Yoh wanted to stop him and yell that he's talking nonsense. But he knows too well that these are Hao's last breaths, why was he listening to him like this? Why weren't his friends objecting about it?

"You beat me…fair and square. _*huff_* that alone…makes me happy. _*hah*_ you didn't use…any of those…dirty tricks _*pant*_ that they used to…use…against me." He whispered and started fighting more for air. His breathing was even heavier now.

"Besides that…I know you were forced to. _*cough*_ and somehow I…_*cough*_…" He stopped mid-sentence and broke into a coughing fit, blood splattering all over his mouth, neck and chest, trickling down his cheeks.

"Shhh…Say no more." Yoh begged as his grip tightened on Hao's hand. Hao just smiled at him and weakly raised an eyebrow.

"Then smile for me…a smile…just for me." He managed to gasp out between pants and coughs. Yoh blinked at him and then smiled, tears falling on Hao's forehead, then he slowly lifted him into a soft hug and Hao slowly hugged back with his free hand. They both closed their eyes, relishing the feeling of being next to each other for the first and last time.

"Yoh?" He asked and Yoh let out a cracked hum as an answer.

"Thank you." He breathed out softly.

Yoh felt Hao's breath slow down even more, the hand on his back loosening and getting heavier until it fell by his side, his entire body went limp. He held him closer, tighter, until he heard the last breath escape his brother's lips.

"Yoh?" He heard Ren ask.

"Yes?"

"What did he say?" The question felt weird, but it made sense that they hadn't heard a thing; after all, they were both whispering the words to each other.

"He said…thank you." As he said it, tears started streaming down his eyes, falling on the bloodstained, stone floor. He stayed in that position for a moment longer, and then he slowly let his forehead rest against Hao's chest. Cold and pale, he was lifeless.

"Yoh?" Came Manta's worried voice. Yoh sighed and lifted his head after a moment.

"What is it, Manta?" Yoh asked after he wiped his tears away, sounding calm.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" Yoh smiled at his friend's concern and shook his head.

"I'm alright, Manta. No need to worry!" He said and flashed him a quick grin. Hao was still in his arms, head resting on Yoh's chest.

"What will you do with the body?" Lyserg asked with a tone he didn't mean to use. Everyone turned to Yoh, waiting for his answer.

"I'll bury him; I want to give him a proper funeral." He answered calmly.

"Yoh!" Some of his friends exclaimed while others gasped. Yoh gave them a confused glare.

"Yoh…he's our enemy, and we understand that he's your brother as well. We let you have your time with him here because no one else is able to enter or see what's going on. But out there, people would-" Ren was cut off with Yoh glaring at him.

"Say, Ren, what would you do if your sister dies? How would **you** feel if you had killed her with your own hands? This goes for all of you, answer me." The sudden question startled everyone and they all looked away, faces grim. Yoh sighed and calmed himself down.

"Let's get out." He said as he lifted himself up with Hao in his hands. Everyone glanced at each other but said nothing, they'd just let it be.

"Umm, guys? How can I go out there without letting anyone see me carrying Hao?" Yoh asked with a troubled face, a rigid, nervous smile plastered on his face. Horo, Choco, Ryu and Manta couldn't help but burst into laughter, the face Yoh was putting was so funny!

"Guys, I'm serious!" He yelled desperately but the group just laughed while others smiled in amusement.

"Don't worry about it, leave it to us." Ren assured him.

"I will use Eliza's oversoul to fly to the other side of the mountains; no one should find us there." Faust suggested.

"No way, those black wings are easy to spot. Kororo is as blue as the sky; it would be hard to spot her." Horo said and flashed Yoh a smile.

"How come…we're helping? I mean, I understand that it's Yoh's wish but Hao…" Lyserg wondered aloud to himself.

"We are doing this for Yoh. He fought hard and deserves that we do at least one thing that he wants. So might as well get over with it since it's an easy matter." Anna explained and started walking ahead of them all. Horo soon prepared Kororo's huge oversoul and took Hao with him. Now all that's left is facing the crowd that's awaiting them outside.

_-At the Asakura residence in Patch Village, the Asakura family discusses the delicate matter as the others rest in their rooms-_

"You want what?" Yohmei screeched in utter shock. The rest of his family only gaped at Yoh, who was sitting in front of them, looking unusually serious.

"It's just a funeral, his soul deserves to rest."

"That man didn't rest once for a thousand years, why would he do that now?" Kino inquired.

"That's exactly the reason. Give him one proper funeral; let his wandering soul rest once and for all. Maybe then, he'd find peace and wouldn't return in the next five hundred years. Isn't that what you want?" Yoh said hopelessly. They were silent for a long while.

"Why do you want to do this for a person who nearly killed you and the rest of humanity?" Mikihisa asked with curiosity in his voice.

"I know it's hard for you to understand, but this the only thing I want. Just one, short funeral and that's the last you'll ever see or hear from Hao. I won't even allow any of you to mention his name after that, whether in good or bad. It would be as if we had never met or heard of him, okay?" He tried again, but no response.

"If you can't do it while thinking that it's Hao, try to think that it's a funeral for my brother, it's his body after all." He said as a final try and it actually seemed to affect them somehow. Slowly, they nodded their heads in agreement, Keiko crying at the end of it.

_-At the funeral-_

Everyone was gathered at the mountain's summit. The Asakuras, The Taos and some of Hao's followers were all standing together silently in front of a lonely tree. A tall, thin tree that stood on the edge of the summit, its roots sticking out of the rocks at some parts, yet there seems to be enough soft soil for it to grow. Just below it laid a tombstone, etched into it was the name _Hao Asakura_.

The sound of strong wind blowing filled the silence between them. The body has been buried, but no words have been said, and no one wanted to say or hear anything anyway. They just stood there, gazing at the orange sky as the sun neared setting. The cool wind started blowing harder, orange leaves flying across the sky, autumn leaves.

The sun reached the horizon, touching the fine line that separated earth and sky. Where was Hao's spirit now? Yoh wondered as he watched the burning view. _Burning_…it's such a convenient time, it represented him after all. The colors splashed into the sky, but the leaves, they weren't moving with the wind anymore, it was as if they were following a current of their own. They kept spinning above them, slowly coming closer. He wasn't too sure, but it was as if the rustling of the leaves made a tune, and far away in the background, he could hear soft words being sung.

_Watch  
><em>_The autumn leaves  
><em>_They dance beneath the sun  
><em>_Down with the wind  
><em>_Until they reach the ground  
><em>_Then back up  
><em>_To the highest mountains_

What was that? Is he hearing things now? But, the leaves **are** dancing beneath the sun, and surely they are now standing on a mountain…

_They were together  
><em>_But then they flew apart_

Together? Apart? What is this all about? Yoh kept wondering what these words meant. _"If you can't do it while thinking that it's Hao, try to think that it's a funeral for my brother, it's his body after all."_ His words resounded in his head, making his heart ache at the thought. His brother **is** Hao, and he was the brother that he never had the chance to know.

_And just like them  
><em>_You have to learn  
><em>_That one day we will be apart as well_

We will be apart as well…yes…as well. Tears started falling unconsciously from Yoh's eyes. What would it have been like…to have Hao as a proper brother?_** Wished that he'd been there from the start.**_ But it's too late for wishes now.

_But you must know  
><em>_That I will be by your side  
><em>_Inside your heart  
><em>_We will never be apart_

Just then, one of the leaves started twirling above his head. Yoh looked up and the leaf twirled down until it reached his chest level. Then it suddenly turned to wood, and a strong, thick lace appeared around Yoh's neck and tied itself to the leaf pendant.

Yoh stared at the pendant with surprise, and then looked at everyone else; some of them had acquired the pendant as well, but not all of them. The rest of the leaves were blown away by the soft wind towards the tree. He took one final look at the thin tree and saw that there was nothing left of the sun but the very few last rays of light. Just then, two figures appeared to be standing next to the tree. One he recognized as Hao, he was wearing a red kimono with the autumn leaves drawn on the tips of it, and he was holding the other's hand. She was a beautiful lady with long blond hair, wearing a white kimono with flowers on it. They both smiled at Yoh and mouthed a thank you as they vanished with the last ray of light.

Yoh clutched his wooden pendant and smiled. _Inside your heart, we will never be apart._

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><p>Thunder: I hope you enjoyed this, though the idea for this one-shot has been used too much, I like my version (well who doesn't like his own version?) Anyway, I'm just really glad that I finally wrote something, and it finished in only two days too! Well, I'd also lie to say that, I put some sort of idea into this fic and I hope it's clear to all of you readers and judges. By the way, the woman is Hao's Mother, in case you hadn't guessed yet.<p>

Please Review!


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